The Night He Killed Me
by Vylette Skye
Summary: Helena Ravenclaw looks back into her past and reflects on Tom Riddle, the Bloody Baron, and the night he killed her. *one shot*


As I stare out the window, onto the grounds, as I usually do, I can't help but think back to the time at Hogwarts, fifty years ago, when Lord Voldemort was known as Tom Riddle. I hate thinking about this – but it happens often. Being a ghost, there isn't much to think about. I hate knowing that I helped make Lord Voldemort into what he is now. If only he hadn't seemed so nice and thoughtful . . .

I remember telling Tom: there was once a jewel on my pretty diadem. But it is gone now. It must have fallen off when I died. It was a pretty jewel. I liked it. It shone like the sun. But it is gone now and if it did truly fall off when I died, then it is not yellow anymore. Now it will be red, covered with my blood.

I do not remember the exact questions he asked but I remember that he gained significant information from me on that cloudy March day. He was cunning, a true Slytherin. He rather reminded me of the Bloody Baron – so proud and noble yet so conceited in his own, hidden way. Ah, now I will think back to the time way before that. The time of my life. And my death.

His name was Nicholas Estrange when he lived. Only after his death, was it changed to the Bloody Baron. I rather like his death name, as it forces him to be reminded of his cruel act. But now I wish that I had not thought of him, as I try not to. If I do, you see, I remember the night he killed me.

_It was dark and I was shivering as I sat on the grass. The diadem was on my head and I felt so much wiser wearing it. _How foolish I was then. _And suddenly, without any warning, he found me. He walked out from the other part of the woods and rushed towards me. "Helena!" he screamed._

_ "Go away!" I yelled back. "I am never going back! I like it here, Nicholas!" _

_ "Your mother is ill," he told me. "She does not have long. She wishes to see you. I have searched the world to find you here in Albania. Come back home, Helena!" My fingers reach up to the diadem and I take it off, twirling it in my hands. All I had done for one silly crown. But if I went back, my mother would be mad at me. She would be disappointed. No, I couldn't go back. Besides, I did really like it here in this forest in Albania._

_ "No," I said harshly. Nicholas's eyes widened and he grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. He told me I must go back and began to threaten me. I drew away from him, frightened. I pushed him away as the night grew darker. He pushed me and I fell to the ground. I stood back up quickly to see his dagger raised aloft._

_ "Nicholas . . . please . . ." I stammered. "Don't be mad about a little thing like this!"_

_ "A little thing?" he asked. "Was I mad when you refused to marry me? No! Was I mad when you wouldn't talk to me? No! Was I mad when you asked your mother to keep you away from me? No! But I am mad now! You shall not disobey your mother!" He was yelling now. And his dagger snagged me on the cheek. He brought up his hand and brushed the blood away._

_ He brought the dagger up again and I fell to the ground once again. The diadem fell off my head and the last thing I saw before I died was the diadem in my hand. The jewel in the middle that once shown like the sun was dull and empty. And black. It was gone – like my life. _

I shouldn't have let myself think of Tom Riddle or the Bloody Baron. But every now and then, it cannot be helped. The diadem is gone now. I brought it to the Room of Requirement after my death and Tom Riddle found it. It is now a Horcrux. My mother's beloved diadem that I loved as well is now an instrument of evil and it is my entire fault.

Oh, mother. How would my life had been different if I had gone back home? Would I have lived? Would I have married the Bloody Baron? I, for one, am glad I did not marry him. He floats by my window and I look at him. He wears his chains as a reminder of what he has done.

"You will never forget," I tell him.

"I know," he says. "Never. How could I? What I did was the reason I took my own life."

"Yes, I know that. I rather wished you didn't, though. You do not know what it is like to have to be a ghost forever with the man who killed you always near you. If you had lived, I would never have to see you again," I say.

"If that is what you wish."

"I loved you. But I thought I could do better." I say my words harshly but he does not recoil as I had hoped he would. What has happened to me? I am turning into a Slytherin. I see him reach for his knife which would be in his pocket if he were alive. Then, he remembers it is not there and I say, "You always were a violent man."

"Was I?" he asks. "You always were an intelligent girl."

"Was I?" I copy. "Then why did I wind up dead?"

"Because I am a violent man," he tells me. I shrug and stare back at my window. I gaze far to the South and West. Somewhere out there is Albania. And in Albania is a forest. And in that forest is a jewel. And that jewel is covered in blood. My blood. From the night he killed me.


End file.
